Latest News from Local Plan Examination
19 March 2026 - The Programme Officer has written to all representors with information on the hearing sessions. The following document has been added to the Examination Library:
Further to the Programme Officer's correspondence of 16 March 2026, the Inspector has issued some supplementary guidance in relation to hearing statements.
Please note that paragraphs 21 and 22 of the Inspector’s Guidance Note state:
21. Those who wish to proceed by written means can rely on what they have already submitted. The original representations should have included all the points and evidence necessary to substantiate them, so there will be no need to submit further material based on the original representations.
22. However, for participants in the hearings, an opportunity does exist to submit further written material in the form of a hearing statement. This should be limited to responding to the matters I have identified in the attached draft agenda. Further details regarding hearing statements are set out below.
Further, the Inspector has stated:
I will accept hearing statements only from those who are intending to participate in the first week of hearings and are addressing the specific points in the agenda for that week, which is primarily about the housing requirement that should be set for the district.
For the forthcoming hearings, I will not accept
· hearing statements from those who are not going to participate;
· hearing statements from those who want to talk about something other than the specific issues I have put in the agenda;
· hearing statements concerning the spatial strategy, or specific sites;
· hearing statements about the merits or demerits of “omission sites”, ie sites that have not been included in the submitted plan.
I will be holding further hearings later in the year which will address the spatial strategy and certain of the site allocations, including sites that the Council are proposing to bring forward through main modifications. If anyone wishes to participate on any subject that is on the agenda at that time, they may submit hearing statements at that point. However, they will need to wait until I have set out the agenda points for those hearings and have invited statements.
Any representors submitting hearing statements should adhere to all relevant criteria stated in the Inspector’s Guidance Note.
19 March 2026 - The Council have submitted to the examination their Legal and Procedural Requirements Topic Paper. The Council Documents section of the Examination Library has been updated to include:
16 March 2026 - The following documents have been added to the Examination Library webpage under Post Submission Documents:
For those that intend to take an active part in the examination these documents should be read carefully. The Programme Officer will shortly be writing to all Representors regarding these documents.
05 March 2026 - The Examination Hearings will re-commence on Tuesday 21 April 2026 at 10:00am. The Public Notice for the Hearings has been published. Hearing days are currently scheduled to take place on the following dates:
- Tuesday 21 April 2026
- Wednesday 22 April 2026
- Thursday 23 April 2026
- Friday 24 April 2026 (reserve date)
The Hearings will take place in the Council Chamber at: Horsham District Council
Springfield Road
Horsham
RH12 2GB
When the Programme Officer has received the Inspector's draft hearing programme, Inspector's Matters, Issues & Questions and Guidance Note, these will be published on the examination webpages and she will write out to representors with information on how to take part in the hearings.
Any updates to the hearing programme will be available on the examination webpage.
All queries regarding the examination should be directed to the Programme Officer:
Kerry Trueman
Email: programmeofficer@horsham.gov.uk
Phone: 07582 310364
Post: Pendragon House, 1 Bertram Drive, Meols, Wirral, CH47 0LG
12 February 2026 - The Council has written to the Inspector in response to ID11. Accordingly the following documents have been added to the examination library:
- HDCJB01 Council Response to ID11
- HDCJB01a Appendix A Trajectory Response to ID11 Feb 2026
- HDCJB01b Appendix B Local Plan flow diagram
In response to these documents the Inspector has replied to the Council and has agreed to re-open the hearings. The following document has been added to the examination library:
09 February 2026 - The Exploratory / Procedural Meeting scheduled to take place on Thursday 26th February 2026 has been cancelled as the Inspector is conducting the Mid Sussex Local Plan examination on that day.
Further information on the next steps in the examination process will be published on the examination website in due course.
The Programme Officer has no further information at the current time, but please contact her at programmeofficer@horsham.gov.uk if you have any questions.
29 January 2026 - The Planning Inspectorate has written to inform the Council that a new Inspector has been appointed to conduct the examination of the Horsham Local Plan 2023-2040. Accordingly, the following document has been added to the Examination Library webpage under Post Submission Documents ID12 The Planning Inspectorate - Change of Inspector (28.01.26)
This meeting has now been cancelled.
14 January 2026 - As per the Inspector’s letter of 28th November 2025 (ID10) and 5th January 2026 (ID11), it is intended that an Exploratory/Procedural meeting will be held.
This meeting will take place at 10:00 on Thursday 26th February 2026 at Council Chambers, Horsham District Council, Albery House, Springfield Road, Horsham, West Sussex RH12 2GB.
It is intended that this meeting will be between the Council and the Inspector only. There is no need for any other participants.
The meeting will explore with the Council the feasibility and practical arrangements of progressing the Examination.
This meeting will be livestreamed and recorded.
The Programme Officer will provide details of these arrangements at a later date. A copy of the recording will be added to the examination website.
Please note that this meeting can only be observed through the livestream or recording.
The Inspector will issue a detailed Agenda and/or Inspector Note(s) in advance of the meeting as necessary.
If you have any questions, please contact the Programme Officer who will try to assist.
13 January 2026 - The Inspector has written to the Council. Accordingly, the following document has been added to the Examination Library webpage under Post Submission Documents ID11 Horsham Inspector Letter 050126 (received 13.01.26)
5 January 2026 - The Council has written to the Inspector. Accordingly, the following document has been added to the Examination Library webpage under Post Submission Documents HDC46 Letter to the Inspector Local Plan Next Steps 22.12.2025.
4 December 2025 - The Council has now written back to the Inspector in response to ID10 Letter from the Inspector 281125.
HDC45 Letter to Inspector - Response to ID10 has been published in the Examination Library webpage under Post Submission Documents.
28 November 2025 - The Inspector has written to the Council. Accordingly, the following document has been added to the Examination Library webpage under Post Submission Documents:
13 November 2025 - The Council has now written back to the Inspector in response to ID09 Inspector's Initial Response to HDC43.
HDC44 Letter to Inspector - Response to ID09, HDC44a Appendix 1 Natural England Arun Valley Withdrawal Statement 31.10.25 and HDC44b Additional Duty to Co-operate Information have been published in the Examination Library webpage under Post Submission Documents.
1 September 2025 - The Inspector has now written back to the Council in response to HDC43 HDC Response to Initial Findings Letter and Next Steps 18.08.2025.
ID09 Inspector's Initial Response to HDC43 280825 has been published in the Examination Library webpage under Post Submission Documents.
18 August 2025 - The Council has now written to the Planning Inspectorate in response to Initial Findings letter and next steps.
HDC43 HDC Response to Initial Findings letter and Next Steps 18.08.25 has been published in the Examination Library webpage under Post Submission Documents.
22 April 2025 - The following document has been updated in the Examination Library webpage under Post Submission Documents:
Please be aware that the Inspector does not require a response from representors at this time.
In addition, the Council has published HDC00 HDC Initial Response to the Inspector's Interim Findings Letter in the Examination Library webpage under Post Submission Documents.
07 March 2025 - Please be aware that ID07 Action Point Document has been published in the Examination Library. This document lists the actions that have arisen from the hearing sessions. As a result of these actions a number of documents have been published, these can be found in the Council Documents section of the Examination Library.
16 December 2024 - Please see letter below from the Inspector regarding the cancellation of the scheduled hearings
As requested by the Inspector, no responses are invited.
The Programme Officer has written out to representors and participants notifying them of the cancellation of the scheduled hearings. If you have any questions about the Examination please direct them to the Programme Officer.
Whilst not part of the formal examination programme in line with the Inspector's request above, the Council has published an open letter in response to the Inspector's Holding Letter. HDC Local Plan Examination Hearing Letter
Livestreaming
The Local Plan Examination Hearings were livestreamed and are available on the Council’s Youtube channel. Watch Local Plan Examination hearings on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/@horshamdistrictcouncil/streams
Each video is marked with the date it was broadcast in the title. These videos can be found in the playlist section under Local Plan Examination Hearing.
07 December 2024 -
Agendas
The Inspector has produced agendas for Day 1 and Day 2 of the hearings. These cover Matter 1 Issue 1, Matter 1 Issue 2 and Matter 2, and can be found in the Agendas section of Post Submission Documents in the Examination Library.
The Inspector is not intending to produce individual agendas for Day 3, Day 4 and Day 5 of the hearings which cover Matter 3 Issue 1, Matter 3 Issue 2, Matter 4 Issue 1, Matter 4 Issue 2, Matter 5 and Matter 6, but instead will use the Issues and Questions for these sessions from his ID04 Matters, Issues and Questions document.
06 December 2024 - Please see the following message from the Inspector:
A number of the hearing statements for Matter 1 refer to the Mid Sussex Local Plan examination hearings and the Duty to Cooperate. The information publicly requested by the Inspector currently examining the Mid Sussex Local Plan at the hearing session where the Duty to Cooperate was discussed is now in the public domain. Although clearly not definitive in any way to my examination of the Horsham Local Plan, the information, although I have not read it in full at this stage, is clearly material to the Horsham Local Plan examination and more likely than not will be raised by participants at the Day 1 morning session. Thus, In the interests of the efficiency of the examination of the Horsham Local Plan, please can this information be added to the examination library and participants for Day 1 notified that I have requested this information to be added to the Horsham Local Plan examination library for these reasons.
05 December 2024 - The following document has been updated in the Examination Library webpage under Post Submission Documents: ID05 Horsham Examination Provisional Hearing Programme V3.
If you have requested to participate in the hearing sessions, please carefully check the draft hearing programme to ensure that you are listed correctly for all the matters you wish to attend and the name of your participant is correct. Hearing attendees will only be permitted to speak if they are named on the hearing programme. If you are not listed correctly or have any queries, please contact the Programme Officer immediately.
03 December 2024 - The Inspector has asked that the Council and Programme Officer, communicate that he welcomes the level of public interest and participation in the examination hearing sessions. He has asked that we draw attention to his examination guidance notes which explain among other things, the role of the Inspector and the purpose of the examination hearing sessions as these will be used to guide the discussion at the hearings. The Inspector will also give some brief opening remarks on day 1 of the hearings before considering the first Matter as detailed in his Matters Issues and Questions and Hearing Programme.
02 December 2024 - Please be advised that the Suggested Modification Documents SD14 and SD16 in the Examination Library webpage have been updated.
02 December 2024 -
Ways to observe the Hearings
Due to the high level of participation and local interest, seating in the hearing room will be limited. Please only attend if you need to. Only individuals named in the programme will be able to participate in the debate, and speaking from the observer section is not permitted. Observer seating is allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
To enable greater accessibility, the hearings will be live streamed, allowing remote viewing. Observers and members of large contingents are strongly encouraged to follow the proceedings remotely. Those unable to secure seating in the hearing room will be directed to view the live stream remotely.
All individuals who have formally requested to speak and are listed on the programme as participants will have a reserved seat at the table, ensuring their right to participate is fully upheld.
Hot seaters
Participants listed on the programme as hot seaters will have a seat reserved near to their main speaker. As spaces for hot seating are limited, requests for multiple seats may not be accommodated and will be provided only for those intending to actively engage in the debate. Hot seating is strictly reserved for speaking participants.
If you have any questions on any of the above, please contact the programme officer.
28 November 2024 - Hearing Statements for all Matters have been added to the Examination Library webpage under Hearing Statements.
If you have submitted a hearing statement(s), please carefully check that it has been recorded correctly and contact the Programme Officer immediately if there are any issues.
Document HDC18 Schedule of suggested Modifications: Response to MIQs November 2024 has also been published, this should be read alongside Horsham District Council's hearing statements.
25 November 2024 - The following document has been updated in the Examination Library webpage under Post Submission Documents:
ID05 Horsham Examination Draft Hearing Programme V2
If you have requested to participate in the hearing sessions, please carefully check the draft hearing programme to ensure that you are listed correctly for all the matters you wish to attend and the name of your participant is correct. Hearing attendees will only be permitted to speak if they are named on the hearing programme. If you are not listed correctly or have any queries, please contact the Programme Officer immediately.
We have received a number of requests for multiple hotseats, unfortunately on larger sessions it may not be possible to accommodate all multiple hotseat requests.
12 November 2024 - Please be advised that the Suggested Modification Documents, SD14, SD15, and SD16, in the Examination Library webpage, have been updated. The only changes to these documents are for referencing and formatting purposes to enable cross referencing. They are otherwise identical to the submission versions. As the examination proceeds these documents will be updated with a new version number when updated. It is intended that these documents will be 'live' documents.
14 October 2024 - The following documents have been added to the Examination Library webpage under Post Submission Documents:
- ID03 Horsham Examination Guidance Notes
- ID04 Horsham Examination Matters, Issues and Questions (MIQs)
- ID05 Horsham Examination Provisional Hearing Programme
The Programme Officer will shortly be writing to all Representors regarding these documents.
1 October 2024 - The following documents have been added to the Examination Library webpage under Post Submission Documents:
- HDC03 Topic Paper 2: Housing Supply (September 2024)
- HDC03 Appendix 1 - Revised Housing Trajectory (September 2024)
- HDC03 Appendix 2 - Developers List Letter
- HDC03 Appendix 3 - Developers Responses
- HDC03 Appendix 4 - Horsham 2023 2024 Completions
23 September 2024 - The following document has been added to the Examination Library webpage under Post Submission Documents:
The programme officer has recently written out to all representors. If you have made representations but did not receive a copy of the above letter please contact the programme officer.
16 September 2024 - The following document has been added to the Examination Library webpage under Post Submission Documents:
The following documents have been added to the Examination Library webpage under Submission Documents:
- SD09 Habitats Regulations Assessment Air Quality Addendum
- SD10 Habitats Regulations Assessment Air Quality Mitigation Strategy
The following document has been added to the Examination Library webpage under Evidence Base Documents:
10 September 2024 - New document has been added to the Examination Library webpage under Post Submission Documents:
23 August 2024 - The following documents have been added to the Examination Library webpage under Post Submission Documents:
- ID01 Inspectors Preliminary Matters Letter 230824
- ID02 Minister Pennycook to Chief Executive of Planning Inspectorate 230824
06 August 2024 - New document uploaded to website. The Council has published the Mid Sussex District Council Statement of Common Ground. It is available in the Examination Library - reference DC17.
30 July 2024 - The Secretary of State has appointed Inspector Luke Fleming BSc (Hons) MRTPI to hold an independent examination of the Horsham District Local Plan 2023 - 2040
26 July 2024 - Horsham District Council formally submitted the Local Plan and supporting documents to the Planning Inspectorate on Friday 26 July 2024. A copy of the Local Plan Submission Notice is available to view below.
Hard copies of the submission documents, as listed in the Submission Notice, are available to view on request at Horsham District Council Offices, Parkside, Chart Way, Horsham, RH12 1RL.
The submission documents and relevant evidence base documents are available in the Local Plan Examination Library.